Abad earns shot at start in majors

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A veteran of 81 major league relief appearances with little success on his record, Fernando Abad will make his first major league start Saturday against the Mets.

Abad will be called up from Class AAA Oklahoma City before Saturday’s game and a corresponding roster move will be made to make room.

The lefthander has a 4.65 ERA in his three partial seasons with the Astros but had a nice bounceback from a rough 2011, compiling a 3.86 ERA this year mostly as a lefty specialist.
After returning to Class AAA, he was converted to a starter, making three starts. None were longer than 51⁄3 innings, meaning it’s not a surprise if the bullpen is heavily relied on Saturday, but interim manager Tony DeFrancesco likes the early results of the conversion.

“He looks like a different pitcher right now in the starting rotation,” said DeFrancesco, who was in Oklahoma City for two of the three. “Good fastball, good breaking ball, outstanding changeup. We’re excited about him and hopefully this role will be better for him.”

Team meeting pays dividends
The second team meeting of the Tony DeFrancesco era came just five days after the first and had a similar message to the one he led upon taking over for Brad Mills.

“I know it’s been a tough season so far,” DeFrancesco told the media after the closed-door meeting Friday. “The reminder is we’re not quitting. We’re going to believe in ourselves, we’re going to go out and compete. We’re going to pull for each other.”

Meetings tend only to be noticed afterward when they work, but Tyler Greene will take it.

“We’re just trying to get everybody together and get everybody going in the right direction,” said Greene, who homered in the 3-1 win over the Mets. “It was a good speech and we all played with a lot of energy today.”